Land grab charges: KCR drops Eatala from his council of ministers

Telangana's former health minister Eatala Rajender was dropped from the K Chandrasekhar Rao's cabinet on Sunday.

A day earlier, Eatala, a senior minister, was stripped of his health and family welfare portfolio following allegations of land grabbing of about 100 acres by the minister and his associates in Medak.

The health and family welfare department now lies with CM Rao.

“On the advice of the Chief Minister, the Governor of Telangana has dropped Eatala Rajender, minister, from the council of ministers with immediate effect,” a statement from the Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan's office said.

The latest move came after a probe report on the land grab charges was submitted to the state chief secretary by the Medak district collector. The document reportedly confirms that government assigned lands for the poor form part of the area allegedly encroached at Atchampet for a hatcheries unit of the minister.

Etela is one of the senior TRS leaders and was closely associated with KCR, as the CM is popularly known, since the inception of the party in 2001. However, the equation has soured between the two for some time now and the minister had on few occasions made comments seen as in defiance of the party leadership.

On Friday, CM Rao ordered two probes - one by the Medak district administration and the other by the vigilance DGP Purnachandra Rao - “to find out the truth in the allegations of land encroachments at Achampet in Masaipet mandal of Medak district.

The investigation is based on the complaints of a few weaker section farmers from Masaipet that the minister's men had, over the past few months, illegally captured their government assigned lands. Former Medak district administrators told the media that the minister had put pressure on them to regularize the lands.

Responding to the developments, Etela said that the allegation and actions are part of a planned conspiracy against him. Stating that he has not committed any transgressions in the land matter, Etela had said he is ready for a sitting judge probe too.

A leader from the OBC Mudiraj community, Etela has been an MLA since 2004. He presently represents the Huzurabad assembly constituency.

Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay has demanded CM Rao to take action against other TRS ministers, legislators too facing land grab and corruption charges.